Screenplays
The First and the Last (21 Days), 1937
The New Britain, 1940
Brighton Rock, with Terence Rattigan, 1947
The Fallen Idol, with Lesley Storm and William Templeton, 1948
The Third Man, with Carol Reed, 1950
The Stranger's Hand, with Guy Elmes and Giorgio Bassani, 1954
Loser Takes All, 1956
Saint Joan, 1957
Our Man in Havana, 1960
The Comedians, 1967.

Saturday, October 29, 2011

Graham Greene famously classified some of his early novels as 'entertainments' whilst others had a higher literary aim. As I read primarily for entertainment, I couldn't help but be attracted to those books so designated - Stamboul Train, A Gun for Sale, Brighton Rock, The Confidential Agent, etc. Some of his best work would have to include the classic The Third Man, The Ministry of Fear, The Quiet American and Our Man in Havana. Although I've not read it, I gather It's a Battlefield is another good early novel. Greene himself distanced himself from most of his early work and was particularly harsh about two of his early novels (which haven't been reprinted). I can't say I've read all of his books but you probably won't find a duff book amongst any published between 1948 and 1969. He was, after all, a very good writer.

I really can't speak for his later novels: Greene only published two novels in the 1970s and four in the 1980s and by then I was reading science fiction to the exclusion of pretty much everything else. When I picked up Greene's novels in the 1990s, I tended to pick out the older, orange pre-decimal Penguin editions with their intriguing Paul Hogarth covers and his later work has passed me by. I did, however, manage to dig out some cover images, which you'll find in tomorrow's part two.

It's interesting to see how the covers evolved, particularly how Hogarth adapted elements of his early covers for later covers. I'm tempted to say that Hogarth's association with Greene's novels was the longest author/artist team on record, running from 1962 until at least 1986, long outlasting, say, the Josh Kirby/Terry Pratchett team (1984-2001).

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